Myanmar Days
Democratic whiplash in a country Orwell described as a blend of 'indigenous corruption' and 'imperial bigotry'
Myanmar has been suffering from democratic whiplash, fluctuating between imperialism, sovereignty and totalitarian rule.
In February 2021, a coup d’état caused the country to take a step back from its decade of progress. Instead of the governmental critiques that started emerging from hushed voices in cafes across the country, the shadow of General Ne Win appeared like a perfidious Punxsutawney Phil, leading to a long winter of paranoia, protests, and the restriction of electronic communications nationwide.
Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, overtook the Southeast Asian nation by detaining State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, along with several other members of the National League for Democracy. Power was swindled by military chief Min Aung Hlaing, accused of performing an “ethnic cleansing” against the Rohingya people, who declared a state of emergency for one year. Election commissions were replaced, the military took control of the media, and both President Win Myint and Aung San Suu Kyi were placed under house arrest.
Opposition arose in the form of protests, as thousands flocked to the city of Yangon, halting commerce and transportation. Former lawmakers, activists and citizens organized shadow government militias, vowing to resist the military junta to restore democracy.
But the military’s response was fierce, and since the conflict began, an estimated 2,191 civilians - including children - have been killed, with another 13,000 arrested.
Then in July, four pro-democracy activists were executed by the military regime, the first political execution in more than three decades when the country was still known as Burma.
Sentenced to death in a closed-door trial without attorneys present, the executions pushed against Western leaders, the United Nations, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which all attempted to persuade the junta to free the political prisoners and halt the violence.
U Kyaw Min Yu, a popular activist also known as Ko Jimmy; U Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former hip-hop artist elected to parliament; and Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw, accused of murdering an informer for the military in Hlaing Tharyar, were all executed.
After Myanmar gained independence from British rule in 1948, parliamentary democracy lasted until 1962, when General Ne Win, who founded the one-party socialist state, led a military coup, and took control of the country for the next 26 years.
Ne Win imposed a new constitution in 1974, isolating foreign policy and establishing a socialist program that nationalized the country’s economy, which quickly tanked as black market businesses took over leading to national food shortages and protests. In August 1988, the public revolted, and the army killed roughly 3,000 civilian protestors, displacing thousands more.
A new regime, still operating under the shadow of Win, took over in 1989, and as the country changed its name to Myanmar, it continued to exert political and economic dominance over its citizens via military control.
But when fuel hikes increased the price of petrol by nearly 100%, the population revolted in 2007, with students, activists and buddhist monks taking to the streets for nonviolent protests. The revolt was dubbed the ‘Saffron Revolution,’ due to the color of the monks' robes.
As if nature wished to join in on the revolution, a massive cyclone known as Nargis caused extensive damage to the Irrawaddy division just a few months after the protests began. The cyclone became the worst natural disaster in the country’s history, resulting in the deaths of 200,000 citizens and over $10 billion in damages.
Cracks in military control expanded as citizens accused the government of hindering recovery efforts from the United Nations. A conflict emerged from the Shan State and for nearly a month, the military junta fought against the Han Chinese, Wa and Kachin people. The conflict launched an ongoing civil war that lasted until 2011, when a new constitution created a civilian parliament and led to the election of Thein Sein, the eighth President of Myanmar.
Sein served as a symbol for the future of the country, granting amnesty to political prisoners, relaxing media censorship, and implementing economic policies to encourage foreign investment. He was seen both inside and outside the country as a reformist leader for the post-junta government.
The progress caught the attention of world leaders including Barack Obama, whose administration bolstered humanitarian aid for the country in addition to easing bans on U.S. investments, also naming the country’s first ambassador in nearly 22 years.
But hope shifted directions again in 2021 following the military coup. Biden’s administration sanctioned individuals in the military, along with other companies and conglomerates under its control. Congress passed legislation in 2022 requiring the administration to make a plan to respond to the coup, in addition to urging imposing sanctions and costs on the junta.
All focus shifted back to former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, founder of the National League for Democracy in 1988. Her ability to organize and rally the public made her a continued threat to military power.
She was detained for her activism in 1989 and spent more than 15 years in prison and under house arrest. In 1991, while still under house arrest, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2010, she was released under the direction of Sein, but by 2021, she was convicted again on more corruption charges, placing her back under house arrest and adding another 6 years to her 11-year sentence.
Aung San Suu Kyi, also know as Daw (Aunt) Suu by her supporters, is just one revolutionary among a group of 13,000 that have been arrested following the 2021 coup.
Aid for Myanmar citizens often comes from trips via Thailand, where bundles of cash and supplies are strapped to boats and floated into the country for revolutionary groups. But the dangerous missions have resulted in increased body counts, with two smugglers having been shot dead in Yangon on August 14.
As the resources are stifled, soaring food pricing and rising fuel costs due to U.S. dollar controls by the junta continue to threaten the country and its economy.
The price of rice has jumped 45% this year, the price of potatoes and onions have doubled, and the price of palm oil has tripled.
“Before the coup, I just had to spend 5,000 kyats for daily meals for our family, not including rice and oil, but now I have to spend 10,000 kyats,'' a resident of Yangon’s South Okkalapa Township told The Irrawaddy. “Before, I cooked two curries a day, but now, I cook only one.”
Heightened transportation costs also impact domestic food, with locally-grown vegetables like water-grass, cabbage and corn doubling since last year due to fuel costs needed to transport them throughout the country.
Poverty levels have doubled with the increased spending as well, and 40% of the population, or roughly 22 million people, are living below the poverty line. Prior to the coup, poverty was down to just 24.8% in 2017 for Myanmar.
With an agriculture sector that employs nearly 70% of the labor force, a shortage of food and the ability to afford it will continue to impact for the country and its residents.
As support for the government dwindles following the economic catastrophes, residents, especially young men, are faced with a difficult choice: join the army, or face the fines.
Following numerous casualties from the 2021 coup, young men throughout the country are fleeing to Thailand rather than serve in the junta. Male villagers between the age of 18 and 45 are forced to either enlist or pay fines, which can range from donating rice and other food supplies to annual kyat payments.
Military support continues to pour in from Singapore, where 38 firms were confirmed to be supplying aid directly to the government. An additional 116 companies were found in a recent report by Justice for Myanmar to be funding the Tatmadaw as well.
Domestic support is coming from an unlikely spiritual ally as well, as surreal images are being shared online of the junta partnering with Myanmar’s Buddhist clergy.
Long past are the days of the Saffron Revolution, with members of the Buddhist clergy joining forces with the junta they protested against.
The change stemmed from ultranationalist agreements and gifts between the groups, pushed for by the military and its fear of the clergy due to their strength during previous revolutions. Monastic leaders can now be seen marching alongside soldiers, carrying weapons and leading riots, including several that took place in 2013 which killed 25 people of the Rohingya minority.
But many monks, including Wathawa pictured above, view the resistance forces as “a bunch of thugs.”
“I am doing what I can,” he told Reuters in December. “It is not wrong that I founded the militia.”
Wathawa believes his work is stabilizing the region, and accuses the resistance forces of killing civilians, including monks.
Several other monks who participated in the Saffron Revolution offer a different perspective, viewing those engaging in the violence against the junta’s political opponents as hypocritical.
“Killing living things is an unforgivable crime in Buddhism,” said Htavara, a Saffron Revolutionary now living in exile in Norway. “They’re violating the first precept of their religion.”
Others from Myanmar view the military junta optimistically as a house of cards, with one editorial published in The Guardian this week describing them as “in power but no longer in control.”
While the number of political prisoners has risen to well over 13,000, and 1.3 million are considered displaced, civilian militias have emerged, executing attacks on military bases in central areas that were previously described as untouchable.
There’s also been signs of concession from the military, including the recent release of 6,000 protesting prisoners, although many were arrested again shortly after.
Funding for the junta has also started to wane due to the war in Ukraine, as the military relies on Russian support for its weaponry, along with China and India.
There’s also added pressure from the U.S., which announced this week they will downgrade relations by refusing to send a successor to the current U.S. ambassador, Thomas Vajda, who will retire the role at the end of the month.
“The main point is that a new U.S. ambassador would have to present his or her credentials to the SAC (State Administrative Council, or the ruling military junta), most likely to Min Aung Hlaing,” former U.S. ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel told the Malaysia Sun. “That would have created the impression that the U.S. was conferring legitimacy on the junta, which Washington doesn't want to do. The junta would have used the photos to claim legitimacy. This isn't a break in relations, but rather a downgrading, similar to what happened in the early 1990s.”
Myanmar seems to be caught in an existential ping pong match between the inability to escape foreign influence, and the ability to maintain domestic election-based leadership, a conflict that Orwell described in his first novel that transitioned him from a devotee of the British-Raj into a writer.
He uses Flory, the main character of Burmese Days, to discuss the oppression and isolation of the country. But Myanmar’s history reflects Orwell’s own written trajectory, beginning with the imperialism described in Burmese Days, leading to the consequences of socialism in Animal Farm as a reflection of Ne Win’s leadership, and ending with the dystopian state of affairs featured in 1984, which closely resembles the country’s current state. Each novel can be viewed as part of a trilogy for the country, and at the center of each remains the belief that criticism and self-reflection are the only ways to ignite the proper change:
“To talk, simply to talk! It sounds so little, and how much it is! When you have existed to the brink of middle age in bitter loneliness, among people to whom your true opinion on every subject on earth is blasphemy, the need to talk is the greatest of all needs.”